Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
We are all smoke junkies here and we have to get our fix. If you have questions Post it
and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is because their
are so many different ways to make great Q We all have our own taste.

Hi Mark! to SMF!!! We're happy you found us! You've come to the right place, we have over 50,000 members who just love to share their experience and over 1,000,000 posts describing it! Yea that’s right over 1,000,000!

We have an Articles section that is full of great information about smoking to include a lot of recipes and instructionals. Check it out there is a lot to learn in there!

Would you do us a favor and add your location to your profile, it helps others to know where you are when they offer advice, Thanks!

The MES temp guages are notorious for being incorrect sometimes up to 40* off. You might want to check into getting a good accurate digital therm. The Maverick ET-732 is a very popular model around here, it has 2 probes so you can monitor the smoker temp and the meat temp. It also has a programmable remote so you can watch your smoker while doing something else. One of our forum sponsors has them on sale right now with Free shipping!http://www.amazenproducts.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MAVET-732

to SMF! We are so glad you joined us! My Smoke Vault's temp gauge that came with the unit is off. I don't think many folks trust the built in ones anyway. Dave told you a great plan...get yourself a Mav therm and you will be a happy camper.

If you didn't read the "Terms of Service" notes.....please do. There are a few things that everyone should know about those pesky little rules before plunging into the forums and some guidelines of how to interact within the forums. Off site links are not allowed here at SMF per Jeff. Not that you have done anything wrong....just a little bit of FYI for new members!

If you need any help roaming around the forums....just holler! Happy to help out!

Welcome aboard Mark! This is a great place to share ideas on smoking, grilling, curing, etc. There are lots of friendly and knowledgeable folks here who really enjoy helping one another. Any time you can't find the answer you're looking for, just ask and someone here will have the answer. Like Dave said, you just need a Mav thermometer to accurately monitor your temps.

Welcome. You'll love this forum. I just started smoking last fall and had limited success until I found this forum. I have learned so much from the kind members. They are generous with answers to your questions and there are a ton of great ideas in the postings. One of the ways I learned the most was posting my projects with pictures and I always got support, advice and suggestions for differing ways to do things.